Interesting title, eh? It is in fact in Kobaïan - a language spoken on the planet Kobaïa (duh!). This planet is the birthplace of drummer and musical mastermind Christian Vander and the setting of most (if not all) of this French band's albums.
You know how Pink Floyd were famous for their grandiose concept albums? Well, Vander took that idea to the next level, and through the years has built up a concept discography with Magma. Over ten studio albums, they tell the (surprisingly long and confusing) story of a group of people fleeing a doomed Earth to settle on the planet Kobaïa, With conflict(s) arising when the Kobaïans — descendants of the original colonists — encounter other Earth refugees. All of this is explained in Kobaïan of course, making the albums' liner notes (or alternatively, the internets) the only way to figure out what the hell they're singing about. And they don't even tell the story in chronological order!
Apart from that, what makes this band revolutionary? For one thing, their sound: imagine a Carl Orff-meets-jazz-and-plays-hypnotically-repetitive-militaristic-compositions, sung by a choir with some ridiculously exaggerated falsetto vocals. And dare I say that there's a hint of Philip Glass style minimalism? That's pretty much what Magma sound like on this album. It is a sound which transcends all musical genres, to the point where the label zeuhl had to be applied to their music (and subsequently that of other French bands that would follow in their footsteps). Zeuhl is a Kobaïan word meaning "celestial". How cool is that? Playing music for which no human word exists? Pretty rad in my opinion!
DAT DRUMMER - Impresses me every time
Anyway, here you go: Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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